H.—l7

10

are packed in cases to fit the tongues; the chilling of the tongues and packing in neat cases does not permit of their becoming discoloured, or admit of their becoming long, flabby, and out of shape before they are frozen. The tongues which I saw packed in this way opened up in fine condition, being of the natural colour and shape, and were giving entire satisfaction to customers. These are points which shippers in ]New Zealand should pay attention to. When I have an opportunity of examining closely the methods of packing in the Argentine Republic, I may be in a position to offer a few suggestions which will, I hope, be of some value to producers and shippers in New Zealand. Kidneys. In dealing with this part of our trade, no matter how small it may be, 1 wish to emphasize the fact that 1 was disgusted with the few small shipments of New Zealand kidneys which I examined iv Africa. Some of the shippers in New Zealand may come to the conclusion that my report is one on the lines of finding fault, but I beg to point out that my inquiries and investigations were of a practical nature, and that I am speaking of something which 1 have seen with my own eyes, and not of what some dealer was able to convince me were the facts. In the first place I found New Zealand kidneys were sent to Africa in rough, dirty cases, and still worse, some in canvas sacks, being thrown in regardless of size or quality. How, then, I ask, are we to compete with the Argentine with this class of goods, packed in the manner above described? And in the face of the fact that handlers have shown me Argentine kidneys packed in neatly planed cases, with five dozen in each case, all of which are selected and sized before packing, and nearly all the cases are lined with a cheap parchment-paper. There should be a fairly decent trade in this line if the goods are sent in a proper condition. Tinned Meats. In tinned meats I am afraid we do not stand much chance of developing a large trade, or even of getting a good cut-in, against the Americans. They have already practically got control of the bulk of the tinned-meat business in Africa. While the above is true, I may state that I have examined many tins of American tongues, and also a few samples of tongues from Great Britain, and after seeing these tongues and eating some of them, I say most emphatically that the New Zealand sheep's tongues are the finest I have seen or eaten, not only in Africa but in any other part of the world, and I am sure, if we could advertise as the Americans do, and if we were in a position to deliver our tinned sheep's tongues in quantities and at exactly the time the purchasers wantthem, we should be able to capture a large share of the African trade in this line. In tinned beef, the Armour people and the Australians have such a strong hold that I cannot suggest any way for our even getting a cut-in on anything like a profitable basis to the producers of h&w Zealand. Hams and Bacon. The great trouble with this part of our trade with Africa seems to be in the fact that purchasers cannot get the goods in New Zealand. One dealer in Cape Town informed me that he was prepared to place orders for almost any quantity of New Zealand hams and light bacon at Id. per pound more than they were paying for Canadian, American, and English goods. Every man whom I met who had handled New Zealand hams and bacon spoke in the highest terms of its fine quality. Nearly all merchants prefer the light and medium-sized hams. I hope our New Zealand farmers will soon wake up to the importance of growing more pork. In such a great butter-making country as New Zealand, where skim-milk is in abundance almost all over the colony, every dairy-farmer should be raising and fattening pigs on the lines on which it is done amongst dairymen in Denmark. We have also many other facilities for growing pork in New Zealand apart from the dairy industry. The fact that clover, rape, tares, vetches, and other suitable green crops for raising pigs on, can be grown with certainity and with very little labour, should make the production of pork a profitable business in the colony. In Canada a large amount of revenue is derived from the pork industry, and farmers are becoming more alive each year to the fact that there is money in the business. Poultry. The same may be said of our poultry trade with Africa as may be said of our hams and bacon — namely, that the purchasers cannot get enough of it. A number of dealers informed me that they were delighted with the excellent quality of New Zealand poultry, and were anxious to secure regular shipments, but that the agents were not able to fill the orders. When in Cape Town I had the pleasure of examining some consignments of Russian poultry, and also a few lots from Canada and England. The Russian birds were much inferior to the Canadian and English. The Russian birds were dark in the flesh and nearly all had black legs, which latter is an objection. On the other hand, the Canadian and English poultry were plump, and the meat was of a lighter colour, and nearly all the birds had smooth, bright-coloured legs. Fish. It may be asked by New-Zealanders what Kinsella knows about fish ? In the first place I must point out that I was born on the banks of a great fishing-stream in Canada called Grey's Creek, where we, when only infants, caught many different varieties of fish. I have also had some experience in catching those splendid rock-fish —pickerel, perch, pike, &c, which are so well known to the British people and which are caught in such large numbers in the beautiful cold fresh waters of the St. Lawrence River. My experience in New Zealand and Africa has, however, been more from a consuming standpoint, and I think there cannot be any more convincing argument than that of practical experi-ence-that is, by eating the fish both fresh and after being frozen. New Zealand flounders, blue-